Hoboken public safety director admits what JJ reported in September 2009 -- he met with Dwek

Angel Alicea is seen in a campaign flier during his failed run for a Hoboken city council seat in 2009. He admitted last week what The Jersey Journal reported 20 months ago -- that he met with the informant who offered bribes to dozens of candidates and public officials in a federal sting.

Hoboken Public Safety Director Angel Alicea has stepped down after finally admitting to the city's administration that in 2009 he met twice with Solomon Dwek, the informant who bribed dozens of public officials and candidates in the Operation Bid Rig III corruption sting.

In a statement Friday afternoon, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said Alicea "and I mutually agreed today that in light of Hoboken's recent history and the fact that he had failed to disclose this information either publicly or to me, he could no longer serve effectively in his position as Public Safety Director."

The admission should not have come as a surprise to Zimmer, since The Jersey Journal, in September 2009, reported twice that Alicea met with Dwek.

The Jersey Journal also reported in September 2009 that Alicea was the unnamed candidate who agreed to accept $5,000 from Dwek that former Hudson County Board of Elections investigator Dennis Jaslow referred said in a plea hearing.

Alicea flatly denied the stories at the time and even appeared outraged.

"I don't know who put that out there, but I'm going to have my attorney find out," Alicea said at the time, adding that he never met Dwek.

Alicea, who earned $27,000 a year as the public safety director, unsuccessfully ran for city council that year. Then-Mayor Peter Cammarano was also caught in the federal sting and eventually stepped down and pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Alicea has not been charged.

In her statement Zimmer appears to distance herself from Alicea, noting that "Cammarano, with the approval of our State Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi, appointed Mr. Alicea to the position of Public Safety Director at a salary of $27,000 per year."

So far the mayor has not returned a call seeking a response.

Zimmer said in her statement that now she wants to get to the truth of the matter.

"I have written to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman to request that his office make public all tapes, recordings, transcripts and other documents related to the Bid Rig investigation involving Hoboken public officials, their close associates, and family members. We have also submitted a corresponding Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Justice."

The resignation of Alicea comes in the wake of the administration's outrage over recently released video showing Dwek offering a bribe to Councilman Michael Russo during a meeting at a Jersey City restaurant in April 2009.

Zimmer has called for an investigation into Russo's meeting with Dwek and candidates and council members aligned with Zimmer have called for his resignation.